This is what we know: “T-Cell/Histiocyte-Rich B-Cell Lymphoma”

While we do not know a lot, we now have one big detail. We know what kind of cancer I have:

“T-Cell/Histiocyte-Rich B-Cell Lymphoma”

Today’s appointment was a followup with the surgeon. I am recovering well and he freed me to full activity.

He shared the pathology report with us, but as is normal for a non-oncologist, he was not able (or willing) to elaborate on next steps. He was very encouraging, however, sharing the story of his mother’s multiple bouts with Lymphoma, now in her 90’s.

I did a little research on this form of Lymphoma. Here are a couple snippets of what I found:

“Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoid malignancy in adults, accounting for approximately 30,000 new cases each year in the United States, or about 40% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHLs) [1]. T-cell/histiocyte-rich B-cell lymphoma (T/HRBCL) is an uncommon morphologic variant of DLBCL [2], representing 1%–3% of all DLBCLs in recent series” [3–6]. (source)

PROBABLE NEXT STEPS:

We are doing research, desiring to be as informed as possible. But still, as non-specialists who are new to the cancer-scene, we can only assume what the next-steps would be. We would not be surprised at the following:

1) Meet with the oncologist: hopefully within the next day or three. One blessing is that his office is only a half-mile from our house!

2) More testing: We assume that next steps will include more testing to find out whether or not T/HRBCL is present in other parts of my body (other lymph nodes, liver. spleen, bone marrow, etc.).

3) Treatment plan: We would assume that at that point the oncologist will recommend a treatment plan that would probably include chemotherapy.

While we are frustrated to be waiting between each step, we are grateful for the precise diagnosis. We are also grateful to be living in 2016 in the U.S.A., in close proximity to multiple world-class health-care facilities.

We are also grateful for you, surrounding us, lifting us up, encouraging us, praying for us.